Let me be clear. There is no such thing as ‘Lexit’. Anyone who tells you that such an entity exists is lying to you. Now these may be harsh words, but they are warranted. The future is currently looking very bleak. I do not make such claims to belittle friends campaigning for exit on the left; indeed I agree with many of the claims they support. I make these claims because I am fearful that my friends within the Labour party are being co-opted by the far right with grandiose claims of socialism that will never materialise.
I fear that people I have known for years are being led astray by the very politicians we have campaigned against on a daily basis. We have never trusted Boris Johnson to protect the interests of the working poor. We have never trusted Nigel Farage to stand up for those neglected by this Tory government. So why should we trust them now?
The only form of Brexit that will materialise is a Tory one. It is an exit from the European Union built on the fundamental political beliefs that the likes of Johnson and Farage have supported ever since they achieved power. It is an exit of xenophobia and fear mongering of the ‘other’. It is an exit that will hurt workers and the poor the hardest. It is a Tory Brexit that will further Tory aims: cuts to public services, the scrapping of worker protection, a watering down of our ability to chase tax dodgers and the furthering of privileged interests.
And I am unsure as to whether these claims can be reported as fearmongering. Am I trying to scare anyone? Not really. I am just repeating the well known political musings of Leave campaigners. I am repeating what they themselves have said. In many ways this is what they came into politics for. They have never believed in solidarity, just competition. They have never believed in protecting the vulnerable, just exploiting them. They have never believed in our public services, just privatisation. So please do not be fooled by their apparent conversion to socialism.
Do you really trust Michael Gove to spend £350m on the NHS? Do you really trust Boris Johnson to enact a bill of workers’ rights? Do you really trust Nigel Farage to allow any level of necessary immigration from outside of the European Union? If you answered yes to any of the above then you have been fooled. Jeremy Corbyn has asked these people time and time again what they plan to do. They have said nothing in reply because they know that their old views are the same today. They would hurt every Labour voter twice over so long as they got their way on Europe.
So why take the risk? Why allow the Tories at least four years of free reign? The ability to cut and slash essential services, to hurt the poor and vulnerable, to rip apart the rights for workers that we have fought so hard for. Friends, it is not fear mongering to tell uncomfortable truths. Our future outside of the European Union will be decided by far-right politicians who have never had our best interests at heart. That is a future that does not sit comfortably with me. If you really want to take control, don’t be fooled, and vote to remain.
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